Tympano



sept. 25, 1923.

STRUP;

TYMPANO Filed March 16 '3 Sheets-Sheet 2 fao/ve,

l curately varied in Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrncE.

CFCIL H. STRUPE, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO LEEDY MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, oF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A

CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

TYMPANO.

To all whom z't 'mm concern.'

e it known tat I, CEoIL H. STRUPE, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Tympanos, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a tympano which can be readily and acpitch, the construction being such that it may be readily disassembled for transportation without dismemberment of the primary hand controlled tuning members from the head ring, thereby retaining the primary operative condition of the head upon the kettle.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention: F ig. l is a vertical section of an apparatus embodying invention; Fig. 2, a fragmentary sectional detail, on' a scale Somewhat larger than that of Fig. 1, of one of the tuning units; Fig. 3, alfragmentary detail, in partial vertical section on a plane at right angles to the plane of Fig. 2, of parts of one of the tuning elements; Fig. 4, an` elevation in partial vertical section of the connection between the foot pedal and main pull` rod; Fig. 5, a detail in partial vertical section of a modification of the connection between the foot pedal and main pull rod; Fig. 6, a section in line 6-6 of Fig. 5, this being equally illustrative of the same parts shown in Fig.

1; Fig. 7, a section on line 7 7 of Fig. 5: Fig. 8, a plan on line 8-8 of Fig. 7 and Fig. 9, a section on line 9 9 ofFig. 4.

In the drawings, 10 indicatesy the kettle. of ordinary form, provided at itsupper end with the usual ring l1 upon which the vi bratinghead 12 is supported. j

The head 12 is provided with the usual fiesh ring 13 which, in turn, is engaged by the horizontal flange of the usual pressure ring 14., said pressure ring being provided at suitable circumferentially spaced points with eyes 15 which, at their upper ends, form a support for the pressure washer 16 engaged 'by the adjusting nut 17 on the tuning pin 18, the threaded shank ofvwhich is projected upwardly through the eye 15 and washer 1G into nut/17. The lower end of the tuning pin 18 kis provided with a spherical head 19 which seatsin asemispherical socket 20 secured to the shell of the kettle 10, suitable internal bracing rings 21 being provided to afford adequate support for the brackets.

Up to this point the construction is well known.

The socket. 2O is so formed that head 19 may be freely moved downwardly away from its seat in the socket 20 and, in the present construction, this movement is accomplished by means of a link 22 and bell crank v23 the bell crank being conveniently formed of a pair of sheet metal stampings, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, pivoted at 24 to the bracket 20 in whichL socket 20 is formed.

vBetween thel elements which form bell crank 23, I pivot a block 23 having a diametrical threaded perforation into which is threaded the outer end of a pull rod 25.

The several pull rods 25 are projected inwardly, through suitable perforations 26 in kettle 10, and their inner ends are joined by a central head 27 which is j ournaled upon the upper end of the primary pull rod 28, which, at itslower end, is threaded, at 29, into a block 30, the primary pull rod being projected through a perforation 31 in the Y bottom of the kettle. I The kettle 10 seats in a conical cup 35, the wall of which is perforated at diametrically opposite points, as indicated at 3G, so that the operator may readily reach a collar 37, secured to the pull rod 28, in order that said pull rod may be screwed into or out of the block 30.

Cup 35 is preferably detachably connected to a supporting fitting 38 (Fig. 7) by means ofk clamping screws 39 which are carried by the cup 35. Screws 39 are provided on their upper ends with finger nuts 40 and on their lower ends with heads 11 which may be projected through keyhole slots 42 (Fig. 8) whereby the cup may be readily clamped to or removed from the fitting 38. Fitting 38 is pivotally connected to the head 43 of ythe pedestal spindle 44.- by a bolt 45, and is held in any desired position of angular adjustment around said bolt 45 by ers and Jforming an abutment for the finger nut 49 on the threaded portion ot rod 46, the arrangement being such that the kettle may be readily tilted by swinging the fitting 3S on bolt 45.

Pivoted upon bolt is a. toot lever Fit) preferably formed ot a pair ot mating sheet metal stampings and an intermediate cross head 51.

Between the straddled legs of lever 50 is a ratchet segment 52 secured to the fitting 3S as shown in Fig. 5, and adapted to be engaged by a plurality of pawls 53 pivoted on the cross rod 54 of the pedal lever 50, said pawls being of varying lengths with a variation substantially equal to one step ot ratchet 52, so that lever 50 may be held in minutely variable positions. Pivoted at adjacent the heels of pawls is a plate 56y normally held in the position shown in Fig. 4 by spring 5T against the stop 5S, but so proportioned that, by a pull exerted on rod 59, the plate may be brought into engagement with the pawls 53 in order to litt them from engagement with ratchet The pull rod 59 is projected through a per- `toration 60 in plate 56 so as to be readily rotatable and its opposite end is threaded and projected through a diametrical threaded perforation in a block G2 (dotted lines Fig. 5) pivotally supported in a treadle or toot piece G3 pivoted at 64 upon the outer end of lever 50, the arrangement being such that a nice adjustment oi. the parts may be obtained so that a comparatively small swing of' the toot piece 63 upon lever 50 will serve to retract the pawls 53 from the teeth of segment Up to this point., the constructions shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5 are identical. It will be readily understood that the precise connect-ion between block 30 and lever 50 may be varied to a considerable extent without departing trom the spirit ot my invention as thus tar disclosed, and that such variations may in themselves possess distinguishing characteristics.

It is, ot course, desirable that, as the pitch o't the instrument is increased by greater tensioning oiE the head 12, the resistance oiliered by said head to movement of the toot lever be as nearly uniform as possible, as such a. condition facilitates the accurate tuning of the instrument. For this reason, I prefer the form of connection shown in Figure 4, where the lower end ot block 3() carries atrunnion head 70 provided at its ends with trunnions 71 journaled in the outer ends of a pair of links 72, 72, pivoted at 73 to segment 52, said trunnions T1, 'Tl also serving as the pivotal connection with the upper ends of a pair ot links 74, T4 pivoted at to toot lever 50. In the initial position, i. e.. with the foot lever 50 at its highest point yand the head 12, theretore, in such condition as to give the lowest pitch sound, the links 74 lic at a very acute angle to links 72 but, as lever 5() is depressed, the angle between the links T 2 and 74 gradually increases, thus causing the torce applied to links 74 to act with a gradually increasing leverage upon links T2 and consequently to act. with a gradually increasing leverage upon block 30 and the primary pull rod 2S and thereby compensar;- ing the gradually increasing resistant-e et head 12.

Referring now to Figures 5 and T, it will be noted that links 72 are omitted; that links T4 (corresponding to links 74 in the other form) are directly pivotally connected with head 3() and that head 3() is slidably mounted in a guide way St) in segment In this construction links T4 approach the line Ot' movement of block Bt) in. guide St) as the foot, lever is depressed and there is some slight increase in leverage, as a consequence, but, owing to the particular limitations in proportion which are involved from structural necessities, this increase in leverage is not quite so great as it is in the other form.

It will be noted that, by unser-owing the rod 28 from block 30, the. kettle l() may be lifted from cup 35 but that the initial tuning of the instrument will not be moditied because the tuning pins will have their heads 19 remain seated in the sockets 20. It will also be noted, that in reseating the kettle 10 in cup and forming the connection by screwing the rod 28 into block 30, the kettle may be seated in the cup with a very substantial pressure because, until the tension set up in rod 2S is equal to the. tension of the initial tuning set up in the timing pins, the heads 19 ot the tuning pins will remain seated in sockets 2O and there will be no modiication in the pitch ot the instrument due to the initial tension in the head 1.2. It is, therefore, apparent that the instrumentmay be readily dismembered for transportation without such separation ot the parts as to cause inconvenience or require complete retuning.

It is also apparent that, because o't'i the tiXed abutments (sockets 20) which are provided for the tuningpins, the central head 2T may be placed deep down in the kettle and the pull rods 25 extended ata considerable angle down into the kettle, because the connection between the head 2T and toot pedal is not depended upon in obtaining the initial tensioning ot the skin '12 Then the parts are separated for transportation, rods 25 are not under tension.

I claim as my invention:

1. 'In a tympano, the combination with a kettle, the vibratile head and pressure ring` of a plurality of circumferentially spaced tuning members engaging said pressure ring,

fixed abutments for `said tuning members-i a single actuating member, and ay plurality of connections betweenv said single actuating member and the plurality of tuning members 1 whereby said tuning members may bevsimultaneously moved away from their abutments to vary the innitial tension in the vibratile head.l f c 2. In La tym ano, the combination of a supporting pe estal, and actu-ating member with the actuating member for simultane-` ously shifting the tuning members relative to the abutments to vary the initial tension in the vibratile head.

3. In a tympano, the combination with the kettle, vibratile head and pressure ring, of a plurality of circumferentially spaced tensional tuning pins cooperating with the pressure ring and independently manipulable relative to said pressure ring to locally affect adjacent portions of the vibratile head, a plurality of fxedabutments carried by the kettle for saidl tuning pins, an actuating member,

means for releasably holding said actuating member in various positions of adjustment, and connections between said actuating member and the plurality of tuning pins whereby said tuning pins may be simultaneously withdrawn from their abutments to increase the tension in the vibratile head.

4. In a tympano, the combination with the kettle, vibrat'ile head and pressure ring, of a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced` tensional tuning pins cooperating with the pressure ring and independently manipulable relative to said pressurev ring to locally affect adjacent portions o't ythe vibratile head,

a plurality of fixed abutments carried by the kettle for said tuning pins, ay plurality of bell cranks mounted upon said abutments and each connected to the adjacent tuning pin, a plurality ofr pull fro'ds, one connected toeach of the bell cranks, ,an actuating meinber, and a connection between said vactuating member and the plurality of pull rods.

v5. l In a tympano, the combination with the kettle, vibratile head and pressure ring, of a plurality of circumferentially spaced tensional tuning pins cooperating with the pressure ring and independently manipulable relative to said pressure ring to locally a'ect adjacent portions ofthe vibra-tile head. a

kettle for said tuning pins, an actuating membe`r,`and connections between said actuating member and the plurality of tuning pins whereby said' tuning pins may be y1n various positions of `bratile head,a pressure ring simultaneously withdrawn from their abutmentsto increase the tension in the vibratile head. f Y j a v Y 6. In a tympano, the combination of a kettle and its'vibratile head, of a plurality ofv circuiiiferentially spaced primary tuning members connecting the main body and head in a relatively permanentinitial relationship, an actuating member carried by the# pedestal, and a separable connection between said actuating member and the plurality of tuning members lfor manipulating said tun-` ing members simultaneously to modify-the tension in the vibratile head from its primary tensioning, while permitting the separation of said connection from the actuating member without destroying the primary tensioning.-y c

7 In a. tympano, the combination of a kettle, its vibrat'ile head, a plurality of circi1m ferentially spaced independently adjustable tuning members associated with said head, a plurality of connected manipulating members connected with said .tuning members to simultaneously act-nate the same to'vary the tension of the vibratile head, a support for the main kettle, a lever mounted on said support, means for holding said lever in various positions of adjustment7 said means comprising a rratchet segment, a plurality of diii'erential pawls cooperating with said segment, a foot piece mounted on the lever, and

means connected with said foot piece for controlling-the co-action between the pawls and segment, and means connecting the lever with the several timing means comprising a primary pull rod, a link pivoted to the support andthe pull rod, and a connecting link between the lever and pull rod;

8. In a tympano, the combination of a.

' kettle, its vibratile head, a plurality of cir-1 cumferentially spaced independently adjustable tuningmembers members connectedwith said tuning members Vto simultaneously actuate the same to vary the tension of the vibratile head, a support for the main kettle, a lever'mountedon said support, means for holdingl said lever adjustment, and means connecting the lever with the several associated with saidl head, a plurality of connected manipulating tuning means comprising a' primary pull* rod, a link pivoted leverV and pull rod.

to the support and the` pull rod, and a connecting link betweenk the l9. A tympano'comprising a kettle, a vin foracting upon said head. a plurality of tuning pins, a'plu ialitvo fixed supports for said tuning pins j carried by the main body plurality of fixed abutmentg-carried' by they .fi-nd co-actingfi witli initial-positioning the tuning pins to form l while permitting the tuning pins rbratile head, a pressure ring for initial ett'eet of the pressure rings on the vibratile head, a primary pull rod projected into the interior of the main body, a plurality of supplemental pull rods connected to `the primary pull rod, and projected outried by the main body and co-acting With the tuning pins to form initial-positioning abutment-s therefor While permitting longitudinal movement of the tuning pins relative thereto, means co-acting with said tuning pins and pressure ring to vary the initial eltect ot the pressure ring on the vibratile head, a prima-ry pull rod, `a plurality of supplemental pull rods connected to the primary pull rod, a plurality ofi bell crank levers carried by the main body. and connecting said supplemental pull rods to the tuning pins, and means for shifting the primary pull rod to various positions.

ll. A tympano comprising a kettle, a viacting upon said head, a plurality ot' tuning pins, a plurality ot .tixed supports 'for said tuning pins carried by the main body and co-aeting with the tuning pins to form initial-positioningV Vtired abutments therefor While permitting longitudinal movement of the tuningl pins relative thereto, means co-acting with said tuning` pins and pressure ring to vary the initial etlect of the pressure ring on the vibratile head. a primary pull rod projected into the interior ot the main body, a plurality or" supplemental pull rods connected to the primary pull rod, and projected outwardly through the main body and connected to the tuning pins, and means for shifting the primary pull rod to various positions.

l2. A tympano comprising a kettle, a vibratile head, a pressure ring for acting upon said head. a plurality ot' tuning pins, a plurality of fixed supports for said tuning pins carried by the main body and eo-aoting with,

the tuning pins to form initial-positioning li-xed abutments therefor While permitting longitudinal movement o the tuning pins relative thereto, means co-acting with said tuning` pins and pressure ring to vary the initial eeet of the pressure ring on the vibratile head, a primary pull rod, la plurality ot' supplemental pull rods connected to Vthe primary pull rod, and connected to the tuning pins, and means for shifting the primary pull rod to various positions.

13. In a tyml ano, the combmation ofthe kettle and its vibratile head, a pressure ring so as to draw them downwardly upon exertion of sufficient force upon the primary pull rod, and an operating member separably connected to said primary pull rod.

1l. In a tympano, the combination of the kettle and its vibratile head, a pressure ring acting on said head, a plurality7 of tuning pins depending from the pressurering and carrying means normally to determine the upper position ot the tuning pins, means for independently varying the effective lengths ot the timing pins whereby an initial tuning ot the vibratile head may be obtained, a primary pull rod, a plurality ot supplemental pull rods adiating `from the )rimary pull rod and connected to the several tuning pins so as to draw them downwardly upon exertion of sutlicient force upon the primary pull rod.

l5. ln a tympano, the combination of the kettle and its vibratile head, a pressure ring acting on said head, a plu ality ot' tuning pins depending from the. pressure ring and carrying means normally tol determine the upper position of the tuning pins, means for independently varying the effective lengths ot' the tuning pins whereby an initial tuning of the vibratile head may be obtained, a primary pull rod, a plurality of supplemental pull rods radiating from the primary pull rod and connected to the several tuning pins so as to draw them downwardly upon exertion of sutlicient force upon the primary pull rod, the inner ends of the primary and supplemental pull rods lying within the kettle and their outer ends projecting through the kettle. a support for the kettle, separable therefrom, an Voperating member carried by the support. and a separable connection bctiveen said operating member and primary pull rod serving to hold the kettle upon its' Yupward movement by said brackets. nuts threaded upon said tuning pms and engaging the pressure rings and a single actuating member connected with said several tuning pins and adapted to draw the same downwardly through their brackets to increase the tension upon the vibratile head.

17. In a tympano, the combination of a kettle, vibratile head, the pressure ring engaging said head to vary the tension thereof, a plurality of brackets carried by the kettle, a plurality of non-rotative threaded tuning pins projected upwardly through said brackets and pressure ring an'd limited in their upward movement by said brackets, nuts threaded upon said tuning pins and engaging the pressure rings, a plurality of pull rods having a longitudinal adjustable connection with t-he tuning pins and projected inwardly into the kettle, a primar pull rod connected to the inner ends of saidY plurality of pull rods and projected outwardly through the kettle.

18. In a tympano, the combination of a kettle, vibratile head, the pressure ring engaging said head to vary the tension thereof, a plurality of brackets carried by the kettle, a plurality of non-rotative threaded tuning pins projected upwardly through said bracketsand pressure ring and limited intheir upward movement by said brackets, nuts threaded upon said tuning pins and engaging the pressure rings, a lurality of pull rods having a longitudinalJ adjustable connection with the tuning pins and projected inwardly into the kettle, a primary pull rod connected to the inner ends of said plurality of pull rods and projected outwardly through the kettle, a support for the kettle, an operating lever mounted upon said support, and a separable connection between said primary pull rod and the operating lever. y

19. In a tympano, the combination of a kettle, vibratile head, the pressure ring engaging said head to vary the tension thereof, a plurality of brackets carried by the kettle, a plurality of non-rotative threaded tuning pins projected upwardly through said brackets and pressure ring and limited in their upward movement by said brackets, nuts threaded upon said tuning pins and enga ing the pressure rings, a plurality of bel cranks pivoted upon the kettle, one adjacent each bracket and connected with the adjacent tuning pin, a plurality of pull rods each having a longitudinally adjustable connection with the bell crank and projected inwardly into the kettle, a pull head conneeting the inner ends of the several pull rods while permitting independent rotation thereof, a primary pull rod rotatably connected with the pull head and projected outwardly through the bottom of the kettle.

20. In a tympano, the combination of a kettle, vibratile head, the pressure ring engaging said head to vary the tension thereof, a plurality of brackets lcarried by the kettle, a plurality of non-rotative threaded tuning pins 'projected upwardly through said brackets and pressure ring and limited in thleir upward movement by said brackets, nuts threaded upon said tuning pins and engaging the pressure rings, a plurality of bell cranks pivoted upon the kettle, one adjacent eac-h' bracket and connected with the adjacent tuning pin, a plurality of pull rods eac-h having a longitudinally adjustable connection with the bell crank and projected inwardly into the kettle, a pull head connecting the inner ends of the several pull rods while permitting inde-` pendent rotation thereof, a primary pull rod rotatably connected with the pull head and projected outwardly through the bottom of the kettle, a pedestal, an operating lever on the pedestal, and a separable connection between said lever and primary pull rod.

In witness whereof I, @Eoin H. STRUPE have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 11th day of March, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and twenty two.

CECIL H. STR-UFE. 

